AI’s Impact on Humanity – From Cradle to Coffin
Join us for a thought-provoking journey through the realms of Artificial Intelligence as we explore its profound impact on every stage of human existence—from the cradle to the coffin. Delve into the future with us and unravel the intricate threads connecting AI to the very fabric of humanity. Join the conversation on how this transformative force shapes our lives and the world we inhabit.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Naweed Syed is Professor and Scientific Director of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. He served as the Postdoctoral Program Director – Office of the Vice President (Research) from 2012 – 2016 and was a special advisor to the Vice President Research. He is also serving as the Chief Scientist at the Constructive Destructive Lab (Global) and is the Peak Scholar at the University of Calgary.
Dr. Syed has been the recipient of many international and national awards including: Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (USA), Parker B. Francis Fellowship (USA), Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Scholar, Senior Scholar and Scientist Awards, Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) Investigator Award and the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. In 2016, Dr. Syed was awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz(Medal of Excellence – the highest civilian award for research and innovation) from the Government of Pakistan. He has also been identified and recognized amongst 150 Canadian Innovations/ Innovators in lieu of Canada’s 150 Birthday in 2017. Dr. Syed is also the recipient of Canada-150 Medal by the Senate of Canada. Dr. Syed has given several hundred lectures as an invited keynote speaker and has received over 95 national and international awards from various organizations. Most recently, he was awarded Queen Elizabeth Medal of Excellence by the Government of Alberta.
Dr. Syed’s team was the first to develop a bionic hybrid which enabled direct dialogue between the brain cells and the silicon chip. This study was highlighted in Time Magazine and on the Discovery Channel, Global and Mail etc. Dr. Syed has published extensively (over 150 papers) in peer-reviewed scientific journals including Nature, Science, Neuron and the Journal of Neuroscience. He holds multiple research grants from the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada. He has also been a co-PI on CIHR and CFI team grants. Dr. Syed also serves on several national and international grant panels and is a member of several scientific advisory boards. Dr. Syed has trained over 65 PhD and MSc students and 20 postdoctoral scholars and has given several hundred invited lectures around the world. He has also been on several hundred TV programs as a panelist.
In addition to being the first scientist to have connected brain cells with a semi-conductor chip which has applications for brain-control prosthetic devices – to managing depression, epilepsy and other neurological disorders. He was also the first scientist to perform single cell brain cell transplant in living animals. He was also the first scientist to reconstruct respiratory network in cell culture and these two studies were declared as the breakthrough of the decade of the brain.
